Let’s say that one day, you’re banned from a casino (for hitting a slot machine and breaking its “belly glass”). Years later, somehow, you’ve worked yourself back into that casino (hitting the slots and winning thousands). How, exactly, should you cash in those chips? The issue: Whether a casino (here, Prairie Meadows) had the authority to [...]

Location schmocation. A couple of items in the news. First, a provocative piece from the talented David Hudson of the First Amendment Center, entitled “Obscenity online: Do we need a national standard?” Second, the Iowa Court of Appeals delivered this decision yesterday. Iowa charged Clarence Judy, owner of a strip club in Hamburg, Iowa, with three counts of [...]

A pair of decisions to start the week. “The town of Clarksville’s legal case against Theatair X was dismissed Monday as a judge ruled the town’s ordinance is not valid and therefore cannot be enforced,” reports the NewsAndTribune.com (which, oddly enough, is a “.net” Web site) here. The Clarksville Town Court held that the ordinance regulating sexually oriented [...]

Something about Georgiacarry.org‘s mission seems backwards to me. Fired up after SCOTUS‘s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, organizations like Georgiacarry.org are funding challenges to an assortment of gun laws. No problem with that, in a First Amendment sense. What’s got me scratching my head is how these organizations project the scope of the Second Amendment. They’ve argued a right to carry guns [...]

Pro’s Sports Bar & Grill is not happy with the City of Country Club Hills. When Pro’s applied to the City for a liquor license, the City claims, it was given a license that allows it to operate, but only with more restricted hours than is typical. (The City says it conditioned a license on Pro’s closing at 12:30 a.m., almost 3 hours earlier [...]

Tow-truck drivers are either saviors or serpents. There is no in-between, in most eyes. If your car leaves you stranded on the Interstate, you rejoice when those yellow lights arrive. Hero. If, on the other hand, you leave your car unattended in a restricted public parking lot, you recoil when those yellow lights disappear – with your car. Crook. You might wonder how a private [...]

Tandem opinions from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals were released yesterday. In the first case, Entertainment Productions, Inc. and others sued Shelby County, challenging the constitutionality of the Tennessee Adult-Oriented Establishment Registration Act on First Amendment grounds. EP argued four points: First, the definitions of “adult cabaret,” “adult-oriented establishment,” and “adult entertainment” render the Act unconstitutionally overbroad; [...]

The Illinois Supreme Court delivered this opinion on Thursday. What’s it about? In 2001, plaintiff, Pooh-Bah Enterprises, Inc., brought suit, in the circuit court of Cook County, for declaratory and injunctive relief against the County. In its complaint, plaintiff alleged that it operates an establishment under the licensed name “Crazy Horse Too.” The seating capacity [...]

A New York tavern catches a break in a decision issued last Thursday. The city went after the bar’s liquor license after a police officer witnessed a patron smoking a joint [read "marijuana cigarette"]. The administrative law judge revoked the license. But the Supreme Court of New York overturned that decision. Writing for the court, Judge Catterson stated, ”[w]e find that [...]

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has made news in recent weeks. Last month a federal judge denied an ATF agent’s motion for summary judgment in a First Amendment retaliation case out of Pensacola, Florida. (HT: ACLU of Florida.) The plaintiff, Ms. Karen Kilpatrick, claims that the ATF agent (and others) violated her First and Fourth Amendment rights [...]